Leveling the international trade playing field

A discussion on trade remedy laws was sponsored by the Women in International Trade (WIIT) Charitable Trust. Vivian C. Jones, specialist of international trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service, talked about the definitions, procedures and outcomes of antidumping and countervailing duty.

Antidumping cases involve claims that foreign producers are selling goods in the U.S. market at less than ‘normal value.’ Jones said that relief petitioners must prove that such imports are causing ‘material injury’ to the U.S. industry. According to Jones, the antidumping order imposes additional import duty to offset the amount of ‘dumping.’

Jones went on to discuss countervailing duty cases which involve claims that the manufacturers in a foreign country directly or indirectly receive a specific subsidy from a government-controlled entity and that the subsidized imports are causing material injury to the U.S. industry. To remedy this, Jones said that the countervailing duty order imposes additional import duty to offset the amount of subsidy. Jones emphasized that U.S. consumers are among the major stakeholders in the international trade arena.